Retaining wall and section thereof



Dec. 28, 1965 Filed Dec. 9, 1963 D. H. HAYDEN RETAINING WALL AND SECTION THEREOF 1N VEN TOR. David HomerH cly d em A TTORNE Y United States Patent 3,225,548 RETAINING WALL AND SECTION THEREOF David Homer Hayden, 513 Venice Lane, Siesta Key, Sarasota, Fla.

Filed Dec. 9, 1963, Ser. No. 328,970 3 Claims. (Cl. 6149) This invention is in a self supporting concrete unit wall which needs no support outside itself to produce a rugged construction of long life.

The principal object is to construct a reinforced concrete slab wall section with an integrally attached buttress and heel on the back thereof, preferably constructed in a plant; each unit is a complete section of wall needing only a coping to tie the sections together and complete the wall.

A further object is to provide a sectional unit wall that is self supporting and having a heel portion capable of inducing a better foundation under it while being jetted in place.

Another object is quickness of construction and economy.

Yet another object is to effect a minimum of disturbance to the bank during and after installation.

A still further object is to provide such a wall in which there is nothing to rust out.

Still another object is to provide a wall which is equally useful as a tide water wall or as a terrace or embankment wall.

Referring to the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective of the rear side of a wall embodying this invention with a portion of two adjacent slab portions cut away to show the tongue and groove edge connection.

FIG. 2 shows one of the precast slabs with the coping and reinforcement shown dotted.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of one of the wall slabs showing lifting eyes at the top central portion, which in the finished wall is enclosed by the coping.

FlG. 4 is a side view of one of the precast wall sections set in position.

FIG. 5 illustrates a top plan view of the slab of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross section of the upper portion of a finished wall.

FIG. 7 exemplifies a partial horizontal section through the edges of adjacent slabs showing the preferred shape of their tongue and groove connection.

As disclosed in FIG. 1 a wall is made of a series of precast reinforced concrete slab sections 10, four being shown and other designated 10a, 10b, and 100, etc. Each section includes an integral reinforced concrete heel 11 located preferably slightly below the level of mean low tide but above the base or lower edge of the section to provide a good anchorage in mud or sand for the base of such section. A central buttress 12 is also structurally integral with this precast slab and is reinforced in ways familiar in the art. Each heel 11 is provided with preferably a pair of perforations 13, one on each side of the buttress and located closely adjacent the rear face of the section 10, and similarly adjacent each side face of the buttress 12. Any well known type of reinforcement is provided in the section 10, such as the vertical bars 14 and horizontal bars 14a with which the vertical bars are secured or are integral as shown. Both the integral heel 11 and buttress 12 are similarly provided with reinforcements 15 and 16 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 with these reinforcements secured to those in the slab section 10. The buttress reinforcement is secured to that in the heel edge portion as shown.

The side edges of each section are provided on one side with a tongue for reception in a groove 18 in a contiguous member as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7. To provide a joint Patented Dec. 28, 1965 that is stronger to resist either pressure on the outside due to water level on the front or outer side or pressure due to shore soil or dirt pressing outward against the inner side of the wall, one side of a groove is thickened on the inner face of a section as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7. Concrete is known to be stronger in compression than in shear or under tension.

Two lifting eyes 19 are anchored in the cast section central upper edge portion to provide a support by means of which a crane may lift a section 10 for lowering it in place with its edge shaped to engage the edge of an adjacent lateral section. The bottom edge of a wall section is below the heel 11 to provide an anchorage in sand or dirt contiguous each side as shown in FIG. 4. To assist in setting a wall section in position it has been a common custom to use a hydraulic jet directed to push enough of the sand, gravel, or dirt away from the bottom beneath the wall section. But jetting a large area base portion into position has been diflicult. This is why the base portion of the present wall section has been made no larger than a horizontal cross section without regard to the buttress or heel. But this does not clear up the entire difliculty because the jetting may cause an air bubble or pocket to collect on the under side of a heel.

According to the present invention the heel 11 is provided in each section with at least two perforations 13 large enough to enable a jetting pipe and nozzle to be inserted through either perforation to allow a reaction stream of water and sand or dirt to move upward through a perforation. Such a reaction stream from a jetting operation has the advantage with a slightly submerged heel at low tide in freeing any entrapped air pocket from the under side of a heel, leaving the displaced sand or earth to build up until it is contiguous the underside of a heel as shown in FIG. 4, the sand or earth touching the underside of the heel being shown by numeral 20. The sand or earth 21 on the front side of a wall section may be independent of that on a rear face, because whatever its level, the tides soon cause a buildup to at least that or close to the low tide level. The jetting operation is usually within the skill of the contracting operator setting the sections in place and is sometimes performed from one or both sides. The provision however, of the jetting holes 13 is believed novel in the present environment. No attempt is made to make the tongue and groove connection water tight because with a rising tide water tends to seep through the sand, gravel or earth beneath the base 22 of the wall and rise slowly on the rear side of the wall.

When a desired number of wall sections have been set in place, a coping 23 is cast over the tops of the set sections. Such a coping has the advantage when set of providing a monolithic tie for all the sections over which it is cast. A coping of the general shape indicated has the important advantage of enclosing the lifting eyes 19 over each section to prevent its exposure and corrosion. As is customary in copings, the present one is provided with at least two reinforcing bars 24 as shown in FIG. 6.

In FIG. 4 the water level 25 is at an intermediate height between high and low tides. The thickened side of groove 18 is designated 26 to enhance the strength of the tongue and groove connection. A cut off corner 27 serves as a pusher but is not broadly new.

The size of the disclosed wall section depends to a large extent on the size of tide to be dealt with. With a tide of 3 to 4 feet rise, the wall sections should be at least about 4 inches in thickness with safety, the heel and buttress also being of about the same thickness. The section length measured longitudinally of the shore line is about 6 to 8 feet. The heel need not be of the full length of the section and in fact the present one is only about half that of the section length measured along the line of the wall. The heel width, normal to the plane of the section needs to be less than about half the heel length but may be more according to the size of perforations present. The holes in the heel should be formed in casting and should be at least 6 to 8 inches in diameter and need not be round. The bottom of the wall section is about 12 inches below the heel and this was found desirable. The coping should be about 9 inches high and 6 inches thick, i.e. normal to the line of the wall. The herein drawings may be regarded as substantially to scale.

While not intended primarily for use as an ocean front retaining wall, nevertheless it may be made in heavier sections with a wider and longer heel for such use. A foundation devoid of a yieldable air pocket is desirable under the heel in order that the tongue and groove lateral connections may not have to stand so much of the pressure of a high tide. By having this heel of the perforate and imperforate areas shown, the heel is also capable of withstanding a substantial part of any outward pressure applied by fill on the rear side of the wall and on the top of the heel. From FIG. 5 of the drawing it may be seen that the width or diameter of a perforation in the general direction of the shore line is nearly equal to half the width of the heel 11 normal to the wall section.

I claim:

1. A precast reinforced structurally integral concrete retaining wall section having a length adjacent that of its height with its side edges shaped to provide a tongue on one side edge and a groove on an opposite side edge for engagement with a contiguous wall section on each side, and provided on its rear side with a structurally integral reinforced concrete heel and buttress, said buttress being attached to a central portion of said heel and said heel being of a length longitudinally of said wall and shore line and of about half that of said section, said buttress being in substantially a longitudinal center of said section and of said heel, said heel being of an area to balance the thrust due to static pressure head of high tide and also of an area to retain the Wall in its position aganst the pressure of land fill on the rear side of said section when said heel is adjacent the low tide level but spaced above a bottom edge of said section, said bottom edge being of substantially the size of a horizontal cross section of said section exclusive of the heel and buttress, said heel being provided with a perforation adjacent said buttress and wall on each side of said buttress and each perforation being of a width normal to said section of substantially half that of said heel to allow sand and water to pass upward therethrough from the reaction of any hydraulic jetting used in setting the section in place, and a metal lifting means on the upper edge portion of said section, adapted to be enclosed by a coping, said heel having its upper and lower surfaces substantially flat whereby a jetting nozzle may be inserted through either perforation to allow loosened material to rise with water and pass upwardly through at least one perforation.

2. A wall comprised of a plurality of interfitting sections according to claim 1 in which a coping is provided along the top edge enclosing said metal lifting means against erosion and whereby no exposed metal tie-backs are needed to become eroded after said coping has set.

3. A precast wall section according to claim 1 in which the section is adapted for a 3 to 4 foot tide, is no more than about 4 inches in thickness except along one upstanding edge thereof, is about 6 to 8 feet long measured along the general direction of the shore line, said heel width normal to the plane of said section being nearly half the heel length, said perforation is no more than about 8 inches longitudinally of said section and the bottom of said section is no more than about 12 inches below the under side of said heel.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 942,653 12/ 1909 Louque 6159 952,645 3/1910 Smith 6139 1,081,171 12/1913 Thomson 6l--53.74 1,812,300 6/1931 Leeds et al 614 2,879,647 3/1959 Hayden 6149 FOREIGN PATENTS 582,609 1924 France.

CHARLES E. OCONNELL, Primary Examiner.

JACOB SHAPIRO, Examiner. 

1. A PRECAST REINFORCED STRUCTURALLY INTEGRAL CONCRETE RETAINING WALL SECTION HAVING A LENGTH ADJACENT THAT OF ITS HEIGHT WITH ITS SIDE EDGES SHAPED TO PROVIDE A TONGUE ON ONE SIDE EDGE AND A GROOVE ON AN OPPOSITE SIDE EDGE ENGAGEMENT WITH A CONTIGUOUS WALL SECTION ON EACH SIDE, AND PROVIDED ON ITS REAR SIDE WITH A STRUCTURALLY INTEGRAL REINFORCED CONCRETE HEEL AND BUTTRESS, SAID BUTTRESS BEING ATTACHED TO A CENTRAL PORTION OF SAID HEEL AND SAID HEEL BEING OF A LENGTH LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID WALL AND SHORE LINE AND OF ABOUT HALF THAT OF SAID SECTION, SAID BUTTRESS BEING IN SUBSTANTIALLY A LONGITUDINAL CENTER OF SAID SECTION AND OF SAID HEEL, SAID HEEL BEING OF AN AREA TO BALANCE THE THRUST DUE TO STATIC PRESSURE HEAD OF HIGH TIDE AND ALSO OF AN AREA TO RETAIN THE WALL IN ITS POSITION AGAINST THE PRESSURE OF LAND FILL ON THE REAR SIDE OF SAID SECTION WHEN SAID HEEL IS ADJACENT THE LOW TIDE LEVEL BUT SPACED ABOVE A BOTTOM EDGE OF SAID SECTION, SAID BOTTOM EDGE BEING OF SUBSTANTIALLY THE SIZE OF A HORIZONTAL CROSS SECTION OF SAID SECTION EXCLUSIVE OF THE HEEL AND BUTTRESS, SAID HEEL BEING PROVIDED WITH A PERFORATION ADJACENT SAID BUTTRESS AND WALL ON EACH SIDE OF SAID 